This blog is really not working out the way I had planned. I have no idea why those pictures got cut off. Ohhhh well. It was my intention to upload pictures of things I've done so far so I can tell you about them, but that doesn't look like it's going to work out very well. Our apartment doesn't have internet, the ICLC's wireless connection is SO slow with uploading.

But that is literally the worst thing that I've experienced so far. I am having such an amazing time! This week was our first week of classes. London Projects with Dr. Jemian is going to be great. We all just do some sort of project about London history relevant to our majors. I'm thinking I'm going to research some particular monarch who really liked music and figure out what kind of music he/she had performed, what composers wrote for them, who the musicians were, that kind of thing. I'm really looking forward to it. Drama in the London Theatre is my other class. We saw a play on Thursday in Shakespeare's Globe! It's a new play called "A New World," and it's a story about Thomas Payne's life. We were groundlings, which means we had to stand the whole time, but we were right up against the stage. It was REALLY cool. I'm hoping I can go back sometime this semester to see something actually by Shakespeare.

On Friday morning several of us took a tour of Parliament. That building is gorgeous from the inside too! They wouldn't let us take pictures there, but I got to see the houses of Lords and Commons, plus offices and hallways full of beautiful paintings and sculptures. I'm told we can come back whenever we want to watch an actual debate, which sounds like it would be pretty interesting.
That afternoon Bill taught us how to play cricket. It's a pretty strange game, but I had a lot of fun playing it. And my team won, so that's always good. :) After cricket we took a tour of the International Student House, which is an organization that IC gives us membership to. It wasn't terribly exciting, but they did give us information on all kinds of fun events and discounted tickets.

Today was another early morning, because it was time for Bill's second walk. This one was around the St. Paul's area. We saw some beautiful churches, the Guild Hall of London, plus heard some really interesting stories about the history of it all. I've heard it from other people who have gone to London, but now I know: Bill is probably the most awesome and helpful person there is. He knows everything! About everything! (Everything pertaining to London, anyway.)

THEN Bill took us all to a rugby match. Wow, was it intense. "Our" team, the London Scottish, did very well. I think it's a much more exciting game to watch than American football, if only because they don't wear any pads or helmets or anything. It's so fast-paced; the two 40-minute halves went by so quickly. Right near the end there was this huge fight on the field... someone from the other team was just beating up one of the Scottish, and it seemed like no one was doing anything about it! I mean, really beating him up. The crowd yelling, but the referee just stood there. Eventually they stopped, and threw the guy out, but it was still crazy.

So to recap: in the last three days I saw a play at the Globe, toured Parliament and I.S.H., played cricket, watched Rugby, and went on a walk with Bill and others. Tomorrow we have another walk with Bill; this one is around the Sunday markets in East London. I look forward to writing about it later!